But we had been in a rush to leave and at the time, I couldn’t be bothered getting changed; now I wish I had listened to her and taken her advice.
It was such an awkward moment and I could see that Millie was not at all happy to see the girls, either.
However, Sara just ignored our reaction and carried on in the friendliest manner I think I have ever seen her use. “It’s so nice to see you, Mrs. Jones. How are you?”
My mom smiled back, obviously impressed at Sara’s friendliness and that she had taken the time to stop and say hello. “I’m really well, thank you Sara! What brings you girls to the city today?”
“We’re shopping for dresses for the formal,” Sara explained. “And we think we’ve found the perfect outfits. We’re just looking in a few more shops to be sure!”
“Good for you, girls!” my mom responded. “Julia and Millie are so fussy, they just haven’t been happy with anything they’ve seen yet. Maybe you could give them some tips?”
“Oh, that’s alright, Mom,” I quickly interrupted. “I’m sure we’ll find something that we’re happy with. But we’d better get moving, or we’ll run out of time!”
“See you at school,” I said quickly as I grabbed hold of my mom’s arm and led her away.
“She is such a lovely girl!” Mom exclaimed as we headed into a nearby shop.
Millie just looked at me then, shaking her head in disbelief.
“She’s such a fake!” Millie whispered quietly in my ear. “And that was such an act. She’s never that friendly!”
I nodded in agreement and was just about to respond when my attention was suddenly diverted by a flash of emerald green that had caught my eye.
Pulling the dress out from the rack, I held it up for Millie to see.
“Wow!” she exclaimed excitedly. “That is so nice, Julia and I just love the color.”
“Me too!” I replied, “I think it’s perfect for you, Millie. Why don’t you try it on?”
“But you should try it,” she said, looking at me questioningly. “You found it!”
“No,” I said, firmly, “This color is perfect for you!”
She grinned at me and raced towards the change room. A short time later, she came out wearing the dress.
“Millie, I love it!” I cried. “You have to buy it!”
“Julia’s right, Millie,” my mom agreed. “That dress really suits you!”
“OK! I’ll get it,” Millie grinned happily. “And next, we’re going to find a dress for you, Julia!”
“Yes, we are!” I replied, determination in my voice. “I’m not worried…I know I’ll find something nice!”
And just as those words left my lips, I spied a dress on a mannequin that was kind of hidden in a corner.
“Excuse me,” I asked the saleslady who was standing nearby. “Would you have that dress in my size?”
“I think that’s the last one,” she replied. “I’ll have a look and see what size it is.”
Then a few minutes later, I was standing in front of the dressing room mirror, my reflection staring back at me.
The dress was a perfect fit and the minute I put it on, I had fallen in love with it. It was just the right length, not too long and not too short and it had the prettiest little gemstones stitched around the neckline. I had never seen anything like it before and I knew that I had to have it.
But then Mom looked at the price tag.
“Oh, my goodness, Julia! There’s no way I’m going to pay that much for a dress for you. You’re just going to have to find something more reasonable.”
My face fell with disappointment and Millie looked at me sympathetically. I was sure I’d never find a dress as nice as that one and besides, we were running out of options. We had been to almost every suitable store we could think of.
But as I was about to take it off, the shop assistant walked past.
“How are you going with that dress?” she asked. “It’s such a beautiful style and you’re very lucky. Because it’s the last one, it’s been heavily reduced. Just this morning it was marked down to 50% off.”
I instantly looked at my mom, who smiled in response. “Well, in that case,” she said, “If this is the dress you want, Julia, we’ll take it!”
Shopping bags in hand, we walked towards the car, all of us smiling happily. In the end, the day had been a huge success and both Millie and I were buzzing with excitement.
“You know what, Millie!” I said as I hopped into the back seat of the car. “If Sara and Lucy hadn’t come along when they did, we may not have gone into that shop! Then we’d have missed out on getting these gorgeous dresses!”
“I think you’re right, Julia!” Millie replied thoughtfully. “We were meant to bump into them just at that moment, weren’t we?”
“Yes, things always seem to work out and besides that, you get what you focus on!” I said with a grin. “We were focusing on getting nice dresses and that is exactly what happened!”
My comment caused Millie’s eyes to suddenly light up.
“You’ve helped me come up with a plan!” she giggled, “I’m going to focus on having Jack as my partner for our dance lesson tomorrow. If I have to learn how to waltz then I want him for my partner!”
“And besides,” she whispered so my mom wouldn’t hear, “He’s so cute!”
Laughing, she winked at me and then closed her eyes.
Grinning back, I thought to myself, “I bet I know what picture is in your mind right now, Millie!”
The formal…
We all survived our dance classes, waltzes and all. Thankfully, we’d been able to choose our partners during each of the remaining lessons and Millie had actually ended up dancing with Jack. They were so cute together and I think they both secretly looked forward to each class.
Eventually though, the day of the formal arrived and dressing up for it was almost as much fun as the formal itself.
As expected, some girls went all out and organized to have their make-up professionally applied as well as their hair done. There were groups of kids who had even hired stretch limousines and other fancy cars to arrive in.
Now that is really going over the top, especially at our age. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do at the end of high school?
And I must admit that some of the girls really looked like they were graduating from high school. The dresses, high heels and make-up they were wearing made them look so much older. My mother was horrified!
But regardless of all that, Millie and I were both so happy with our outfits and we lined up outside the hall along with a heap of other kids so that our parents could take photos.
Jack’s mom started crying when she saw him standing there in his suit, alongside Millie.
“Oh, my little boy is growing up!” she sobbed.
Jack had been so embarrassed, the poor thing, and had asked her to stop making a fuss. But she had sobbed even more and then went on to tell him how handsome he looked.
I had to agree with her though, because I thought that the boys looked amazing in their suits.
It was so interesting to see what everyone had chosen to wear and some were dressed more casually. There was a group of boys who were wearing skinny jeans and sneakers, although they had at least gone to the effort of wearing a shirt and tie. That was the cool group of course. They’d gone all out to look as cool as possible and had even slicked back their hair. I could see them standing in a big group posing for the cameras, making peace signs and funny faces while the photographers clicked away.
Of course, I thought that Blake looked the best. He was so gorgeous in his blue suit and tie and everyone was going on about what a cute couple we were. I stood proudly alongside him as we joined the others, smiling for the cameras.
The dancing part of the night ended up being a heap of fun as well. Even the dances where we had to rotate and change partners turned out to be much better than I’d expected.
I was in hysterics at one stage, following behind M
illie. She kept pulling the funniest expressions at the different boys who she had to dance with. Then later in the night, I really cracked up when Jonathon, the nerdy kid who liked Millie, managed to get the courage to ask her to waltz with him.
Earlier in the week, the girls had been instructed by our teachers that whenever a boy asked us to dance, we had to accept. We’d all groaned and rolled our eyes at the thought of that and most were absolutely dreading it. Luckily for me though, because everyone knew that Blake and I were going out together, none of the other boys bothered to ask me for a partner dance.
“Julia is taken!” Blake had said to any boys who came my way. And he’d grabbed my hand and led me onto the dance floor himself.
It was so magical and I was having the most wonderful time. I thought it was probably the most amazing night of my life.
I felt dizzy with happiness at one point when Blake grabbed my hand and spun me around. It was right in the middle of the dance floor and I could feel so many pairs of eyes on the two of us. It was such a special moment, it almost felt like a dream.
Then, out of the blue, I abruptly felt myself lurching forwards. I couldn’t be sure but it had felt as though someone had shoved me in the back. I tried to keep my balance but lost control and went spinning right into a group of kids who were standing at the edge of the dance floor.
“Hey!” yelled a rough kid who was standing there with his friends. Of all boys to bump into, it had to be him. But I couldn’t believe his reaction. He shoved me right back onto the dance floor and pushed so hard that I went flying into the crowd of kids dancing.
I had barely seen Sara all night, but it happened to be her who I bumped into next. The evil stare that she gave me then, almost made my blood turn cold.
“You think you’re so good, don’t you Julia!”
She almost spat the words in my face before storming off away from me.
The entire incident had probably taken only a couple of seconds but it felt like a lifetime before Blake finally grabbed hold of my arm to ask if I was ok.
“I have no idea what just happened,” I said breathlessly as I turned to look back in the direction Sara had gone.
Just then she faced me once more and that familiar cold tingle instantly ran down my spine.
“What on earth have I done to deserve this?” I thought miserably as Blake led me to a chair by the wall.
Sitting down alongside him, visions of Sara’s face popped again into my mind. But the picture that formed in my thoughts was not what I expected.
And with a gasp, I wondered why she looked so sad?
Realization…
My eyes abruptly jerked open. I looked around in the darkness and tried to gather my thoughts. What had caused me to awake so suddenly? I had been in a deep sleep only moments earlier.
Looking around my room, I could feel a cool breeze blowing through the open window, so I quickly jumped up and pulled it closed with a bang. Shivering, I climbed back into bed and pulled the covers up under my chin. It was just then that a vision of Sara popped once more into my mind. And, with the weight of a sledgehammer, the realization hit me!
“You get what you focus on, Millie!” The words I had so recently said to my best friend came thundering back into my subconscious.
I had been lecturing Millie, when all along I was the one guilty of causing the ongoing drama in my life.
Reaching for my bedside lamp, I flicked on the switch and then pulled open the bottom drawer of the little cupboard that stood right next to my bed. Searching through all the bits and pieces that I had shoved untidily inside, I finally found what I was looking for.
The cover of my dream book looked slightly tattered and worn. I had read it from cover to cover so many times and had certainly put it to good use but it had been quite some time since I had last looked inside.
Skimming through the pages, I found the exact place I needed.
“You Get What You Focus On!”
The chapter title jumped out at me and before reading another word, I knew in my heart, the solution to my problem.
All this time, I had been focusing on Sara and how mean she was. Although I hadn’t told anyone, I sometimes even had trouble falling asleep because I could not get thoughts of her out of my head.
But the big problem was the type of thoughts I was having.
“She’s so mean!”
“Why does she always treat me so badly?”
“What is her problem?”
“I hate her sooo much!!!”
Those were the words that had lingered in the back of my mind for so long. I knew there were several times when everything had improved. But she always seemed to hit back harder, just when I thought things were going well.
I flicked through the pages of my dream book once more, until I found my favorite quote…
Thoughts become things! Make them good ones!
I loved that quote so much and always tried my best to remember it. Whatever you think about the most is what will happen in your life. If you think negative thoughts…then negative things will happen.
It was so simple yet I had obviously forgotten how important this idea was.
Thoughts become things! Make them good ones!
I repeated the words again and again.
Determined to overcome the one problem that had caused so much misery in my life, I turned off my lamp, rolled over and closed my eyes. Then, instead of seeing Sara’s cold piercing stare, I saw a smile that gave out kindness and friendship.
That is the vision I need to focus on, I reminded myself…the vision that I want to become a reality.
And with a smile on my own lips, I fell into a deep sleep.
Our new project…
Miss Watson was calling for everyone to pay attention when we all took our seats in class on Monday morning.
“I have a new project for you all!” she exclaimed brightly.
“Oh, no! Not another project!” I could hear groans coming from the kids behind me. And I could completely relate to how they were feeling.
We’d just finished a huge science project and I couldn’t believe that Miss Watson was expecting us to start another one so soon.
“Listen up, guys!” she said loudly. “This isn’t your regular type of project. I think you’ll enjoy this and if you come up with some creative ideas, the whole school can benefit.
Feeling more interested, I listened to what she had to say.
“This will be a practical assignment where you need to brainstorm some type of strategy or idea that will boost the health or fitness level of the students in our class. And whichever group’s plan is the most popular, those children will be given time off class to implement their strategies with other classes in the school.”
“So, we’re allowed to work in groups?” I could hear Jack’s voice from the back of the room.
“Yes, that’s right,” replied Miss Watson.
But before she could continue, the class was instantly abuzz with kids asking their friends to work with them. The mention of time out from class also had everyone excited and the volume of the voices grew with intensity as everyone instantly began sharing ideas with their friends.
“However!” she continued loudly, trying to be heard over the noise. “I have already arranged your groups. Apart from encouraging health and fitness, the main aim of this project is to encourage cooperation and teamwork. A lot of children in this class definitely need to improve in this area and I’m hoping that this project will enable you guys to develop those skills.”
There was immediate silence. She had already chosen our groups. We had certainly not expected this and we all looked fearfully towards her, wondering who we had been grouped with. I glanced quickly at Millie and crossed my fingers hopefully.
Now that she had everyone’s attention again, she was able to continue. “Don’t worry! You’ll be in groups of four, but you will each have at least one good friend in your group with you.”
I dared then t
o take a breath, convinced that Millie and I would surely be together. That was all that mattered to me. As long as I was in a group with my best friend, I really didn’t mind who the other kids were.
That was until the list was announced. I sat waiting expectantly for our names to be called and when Miss Watson finally said, “Julia and Millie you will be working with Lucy and Sara,” I thought that I must have heard incorrectly.
I glanced once more at Millie, whose expression confirmed what I had heard. She was clearly not impressed either and when we were all then asked to sit together in our groups so we could brainstorm some ideas, I sighed heavily.
“Great!” Millie declared with frustration, “Of all people for us to have to work with.”
As we headed to the back of the room, to join Sara and Lucy, it was obvious that they were feeling pretty much the same way.
Glancing at Sara who refused to make eye contact, I suddenly remembered my vow from the night before. “What are you focusing on, Julia?” I asked myself. “Are you actually focusing on this working out or being a disaster?”
That reminder was all I needed to change my attitude and I smiled and invited them to share their ideas.
“We’ve got heaps of good ideas!” Sara exclaimed. “And we’ve already started making a list.” She showed us what they had written down and I scanned the page in front of me.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Millie open her mouth to object. But I quickly spoke up, “Some of these ideas are great, girls! I actually really like the idea of an exercise group.”
I could see the look of surprise on Millie’s face, she was quite shocked at my manner, especially as she knew how I felt about Sara always trying to dominate and be the best at everything.
Ignoring Millie’s reaction, I continued, “I think an exercise class would be a lot of fun!” And then, I was hit with a wave of inspiration. “We could even have music playing and make sure we include all the popular songs that everyone loves.”
I could see a spark of interest from Millie, then. If there was music involved, I knew that she’d be keen.
Julia Jones' Diary - Boxed Set - Books 2 to 6 Page 21